Wind turbine rotor blade and wind turbine for wind power generation

ABSTRACT

To provide a wind turbine rotor blade capable of protecting a base material in the blade tip portion of the wind turbine blade from liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops to improve durability of the wind turbine rotor blade, thereby lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade. It is provided with a base material provided with an outer skin material formed of fiber-reinforced plastic, a protective coating having wear resistance that is applied over the entire surface of the base material, and a protective tape having wear resistance that is affixed to the leading edge portion of the protective coating in the blade tip portion.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of International Application PCT/JP2013/52721, with an international filing date of Feb. 6, 2013, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2012-044761, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a wind turbine for wind power generation and, more specifically, to a wind turbine rotor blade constituting a wind turbine for wind power generation which is installed of shore.

BACKGROUND ART

As a wind turbine rotor blade constituting a wind turbine for wind power generation, the one that is disclosed in PTL 1, for example, has been known.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature {PTL 1}

Publication of US Patent Application No. 2011/0142678 Specification

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

As a wind turbine for wind power generation become larger in recent years, blade length of a wind turbine rotor blade constituting the wind turbine for wind power generation becomes longer and thus a tip speed is increasing at a blade tip portion of the wind turbine rotor blade. Therefore, liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops (the erosion that occurs by impingement of raindrops: the phenomenon in which an impingement of liquid droplets physically grinds the object subjected to the impingement) may occur in the blade tip portion of the wind turbine rotor blade.

In light of the above mentioned issues, the present invention is made for the purpose of providing a wind turbine rotor blade and a wind turbine for wind power generation capable of protecting a base material in the blade tip portion of the wind turbine rotor blade from liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops to improve durability of the wind turbine rotor blade, thereby lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade.

Solution to Problem

In order to solve the above mentioned problems, the present invention has employed the following solutions.

A first aspect of the present invention is a wind turbine rotor blade which is provided with a base material provided with an outer skin material formed of fiber-reinforced plastic; a protective coating having wear resistance that is applied over the entire surface of the base material; and a protective tape having wear resistance that is affixed to a leading edge portion of the protective coating in the blade tip portion.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the entire surface of the base material is protected by the protective coating, and the leading edge portion of the protective coating in the blade tip portion is protected by the protective tape.

Therefore, even if the protective tape suffers damage from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops, it is possible to protect the base material from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops by the protective coating arranged on the inner side of the protective tape to improve durability of the wind turbine rotor blade, thereby lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade.

Furthermore, the protective tape suffered damage from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops can be changed out easily, so that the maintainability can be improved.

A second aspect of the present invention is a wind turbine rotor blade which is provided with a base material provided with an outer skin material formed of fiber reinforced plastic; a protective coating having wear resistance that is applied to a leading edge portion of the base material in the blade tip portion; and a protective tape having wear resistance that is affixed to the entire surface of the protective coating.

According to the second aspects of the present invention, the leading edge portion of the base material in the blade tip portion is protected by the protective coating, and the entire surface of the protective coating is protected by the protective tape.

Therefore, even if the protective tape suffers damage from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops, it is possible to protect the base material from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops by the protective coating arranged on the inner side of the protective tape to improve durability of the wind turbine rotor blade, thereby lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade.

Furthermore, the protective tape suffered damage from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops can be changed out easily, so that the maintainability can be improved.

Moreover, since the protective coating is to be applied only to the leading edge portion in the blade tip portion, the reductions in weight of the wind turbine rotor blade as well as in cost can be encouraged.

In the first and second aspects, it is further preferable that the leading edge portion in the blade tip portion is a region in which liquid droplet erosion may occur due to raindrops.

According to the wind turbine rotor blade described above, it is possible to protect the base material from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops with reliability to improve durability of the wind turbine rotor blade, thereby lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade.

Furthermore, in the first and second aspects, it is further preferable that the blade tip portion is a region ranging from 80% to 100% given that a blade root is 0% and a blade tip is 100%, or a region in which a tip speed is 100 m/sec to 80 m/sec when the wind turbine rotor blade is rotating at rated rotor speed; and the leading edge portion is a region ranging from 0% to 10% of the rear surface given that a leading edge is 0% and a trailing edge is 100%, and a region ranging from 0% to 10% of the rear surface.

According to the wind turbine rotor blade described above, it is possible to protect the base material from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops with reliability to improve durability of the wind turbine rotor blade, thereby lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade.

A wind turbine for wind power generation of the present invention is equipped with the wind turbine rotor blade according to any one of which is described above.

According to the wind turbine for wind power generation of the present invention, it is equipped with the wind turbine rotor blade capable of protecting the base material in the blade tip portion of the wind turbine rotor blade from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops, improving durability of the wind turbine rotor blade, and thus lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade. Therefore, it is possible to encourage the lengthening of the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine for wind power generation.

Here, it is an advantageous benefit for especially an off-shore wind turbine (the wind turbine for wind power generation which is installed off shore) to which frequent maintenance cannot be given to he able to lengthen the interval of maintenance.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the wind turbine rotor blade according to the present invention, it is possible to protect the base material in the blade tip portion of the wind turbine rotor blade from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops to improve durability of the wind turbine rotor blade, thereby lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic representation of a wind turbine for wind power generation equipped with a wind turbine rotor blade according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overhead view of the wind turbine rotor blade shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along an arrow A-A of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

A wind turbine rotor blade according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic representation of a wind turbine for wind power generation equipped with a wind turbine rotor blade according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an overhead view of the wind turbine rotor blade shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along an arrow A-A of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, a wind turbine for wind power generation 1 is provided with a strut (a tower) 3 provided to stand on a foundation 2, a nacelle 4 installed on the upper end of the strut 3, a rotor head 5 provided on the nacelle 4 rotatably about an substantially horizontal axis line, and a plurality of, such as three, wind turbine rotor blades 6 mounted radially about the rotation axis line of the rotor head 5. Then, power of wind impinged from the direction of the rotation axis line of the rotor head 5 on the wind turbine rotor blades 6 is converted into power for rotating the rotor head 5 about the rotation axis line.

Furthermore, the nacelle 4 is provided on the upper portion thereof an anemometer 7 that measures a surrounding wind speed value, an anemoscope 8 that measures a wind direction, and a lightning rod (not shown).

A generator connected through a speed-increasing gear of the same shaft as the rotor head 5 is installed inside of the nacelle 4, each of which is not shown in figure. More specifically, generator output power can be obtained from the generator by increasing the rotation speed of the rotor head 5 by means of the speed-increasing gear to drive the generator.

As shown in FIG. 2 or 3, the wind turbine rotor blade 6 according to the present embodiment is provided with a base material 11 provided with an outer skin material (not shown) formed of fiber-reinforced plastic, a protective coating (a first protective material) 12 having wear resistance (corrosion resistance) that is applied over the entire surface of the base material 11, and a protective tape (a second protective material) 13 having wear resistance (corrosion resistance) that is affixed to the leading edge portion of the coating 12 in the blade tip portion.

Specific examples of the protective coating 12 having wear resistance can include, for example, a fluororesin coating (such as “Sky Hullo TopCoat FLV2” and “Sky Hullo TopCoat #400” available from Nihon Tokushu Toryo Co., Ltd.), a polyurethane coating (such as “Desothane HS Polyurethane Topcoats/CA 8000 Series” available from PPG Aerospace), and an epoxy coating (such as “Koropon HS Epoxy Topcoats CA 3000 Series” available from PPG Aerospace).

Furthermore, specific examples of the protective tape 13 having wear resistance can include, for example, a polyurethane tape (such as “3M Wind Blade Protective Tape W8607, W8607R” available from 3M (Registered Trademark)), a tape over the entire surface of which a polyurethane coating (such as “3M Wind Blade Protection Coating W4600” available from 3M (Registered Trademark), a polyurethane coating available from BASF, etc.) is applied.

The blade tip portion to which the protective tape 13 is affixed refers to herein a region (an area) ranging from 80% to 100% given that a blade root indicated by the reference numeral 21 in FIG. 2 is 0% and a blade tip indicated by the reference numeral 22 is 100%, a region (an area) in which a tip speed is 100 m/sec to 80 m/sec when the wind turbine rotor blade 6 is rotating at rated rotor speed, or a region (a range) in which liquid droplet erosion may occur due to raindrops.

Furthermore, the leading edge portion to which the protective tape 13 is affixed refers to a region (a range) ranging from 0% to 10% on the rear surface given that a leading edge indicated by the reference numeral 31 in FIGS. 2 and 3 is 0% and a trailing edge indicated by the reference numeral 32 is 100%, and a region (a range) ranging from 0% to 10% on the rear surface, or a region (a range) in which liquid droplet erosion may occur due to raindrops.

In the wind turbine rotor blade 6 according to the present embodiment, the entire surface of the base material 11 is protected by the protective coating 12, and the leading edge portion of the protective coating 12 in the blade tip portion is protected by the protective tape 13.

Therefore, even if the protective tape 13 suffers damage from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops, it is possible to protect the base material 11 from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops by the protective coating 12 arranged on the inner side of the protective tape to improve durability of the wind turbine rotor blade 6, thereby lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade 6.

Furthermore, the protective tape 13 that suffers damage from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops can be changed out easily, so that the maintainability can be improved.

The wind turbine for wind power generation 1 according to the present embodiment is equipped with the wind turbine rotor blade 6 capable of protecting the base material 11 in the blade tip portion of the wind turbine rotor blade 6 from the liquid droplet erosion due to raindrops, improving durability of the wind turbine rotor blade 6, and thus lengthening the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine rotor blade 6. Therefore, it is possible to encourage the lengthening of the interval of maintenance of the wind turbine for wind power generation 1.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but various alterations and modifications can be made without departing the spirit of the present invention.

For example, although the embodiment described above takes the base material 11 including the protective coating 12 applied on the entire surface thereof as a specific example, the present invention is riot limited thereto. For example, the protective coating 12 may be applied only to the leading edge portion of the base material 11 in the blade tip portion, and the protective tape 13 may be affixed to the entire surface of the protective coating 12.

The reductions in weight of the wind turbine rotor blade 6 as well as in cost thus can he encouraged.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   1 Wind turbine for wind power generation -   11 Base material -   12 Protective coating -   13 Protective tape -   21 Blade root -   22 Blade tip -   31 Leading edge -   32 Trailing edge 

1. A wind turbine rotor blade, comprising: a base material provided with an outer skin material formed of fiber-reinforced plastic; a protective coating having wear resistance that is applied over the entire surface of the base material; and a protective tape having wear resistance that is affixed to a leading edge portion of the protective coating in the blade tip portion.
 2. A wind turbine rotor blade, comprising: a base material provided with an outer skin material formed of fiber-reinforced plastic; a protective coating having wear resistance that is applied to a leading edge portion of the base material in the blade tip portion; and a protective tape having wear resistance that is affixed to the entire surface of the protective coating.
 3. The wind turbine rotor blade according to claim 1, wherein the leading edge portion in the blade tip portion is a region in which liquid droplet erosion may occur due to raindrops.
 4. The wind turbine rotor blade according to claim 1, wherein: the blade tip portion is a region ranging from 80% to 100% given that a blade root is 0% and a blade tip is 100%, or a region in which a tip speed is 100 m/sec to 80 m/sec when the wind turbine rotor blade is rotating at rated rotor speed; and the leading edge portion is a region ranging from 0% to 10% of the rear surface given that a leading edge is 0% and a trailing edge is 100%, and a region ranging from 0% to 10% of the rear surface.
 5. A wind turbine for wind power generation, comprising the wind turbine rotor blade according to any one of claims
 1. 